'Should have just stayed in bed.' Willow thought sourly, her eyes unconsciously moving to follow Angel's ass as he walked through the lobby. It was nicely formed, just as Cordelia had mentioned the night before. Of course, that was before she had fallen asleep and dreamed of doing bad, bad, naughty things with said vampire. That didn't mean his ass was no less squeezable, though. She blushed, realizing what she had been doing. 'Stupid dream. Making me want people I don't need. I have my Cordy. She's all I could ever want.'

So why had she been dreaming of Spike -and- Angel -and- Cordelia in one big old orgy? And why had it felt so right? There had definitely been a sense of 'coming home' to the entire thing, as though the four of them were meant to be together. In those hazy moments she had felt as though the hands on her were those of her lovers', not just of a single partner. She had known what it was like to feel unequalled love and lust.

'NO!' She screamed mentally, slamming shut the book she had been reading and tossing it on the table. She ignored the look Angel gave her, instead choosing to flee upstairs, to  Cordelia's room. 'You are -meant- to be with Cordelia, no one else.' The room was empty, thankfully, and she could hear water running across the hall. That meant that she had a few minutes by herself, without her brunette lover interrupting her foray into self-loathing.

What was going on? One minute she had been perfectly happy with the idea of being with Cordelia for her entire life and the next.? The next she was dreaming of fucking Angel and Spike and practically undressing them with her eyes when she was around them. It just wasn't right, damn it! She loved Cordelia with all her heart. Sure, she cared for Spike and Angel, but not in that way.

Right?

'Right.' She told herself, staring unhappily at the ceiling over Cordelia's bed. She heard the door across the hall open, then shut, and sighed. The sweet scent of lavender filled the air, the tantalizing odor of the body wash her lover was so fond of. It was heavy in the air, carried upon the gust of steam that had escaped the bathroom during that moment the door had been open.

"Is something wrong, Wills?"

"Headache." Willow replied, her tone soft but her answer short. There was no telling how long she could honestly be around her lover and not slip up and say -something- about the dream she had had the night before. How would Cordelia take it? To know that the person who was supposed to be faithful to her had dreamed of having sex with not just one, but two other people? And had woken up wet and wanting to boot?

"Poor baby." The brunette sat down on the edge of the bed, her legs swinging absently over the side, and looked down into her lover's eyes. "Want me to get you some aspirin?"

The red head nodded slightly, thankful for the excuse to send Cordelia away from her, even if only for a moment. The bed creaked as the other woman got up and Willow sighed.

~*~*~

Cordelia allowed the walk to the bathroom to take longer than normal, aware that, for the first time since their relationship began, she didn't want to be around Willow. It wasn't that she was upset with the red head or that she was growing tired of her. This was much more serious.

The dream.

Sure, it had only been a dream, true. But it was a dream that had woken her up and made her wish for a cold shower in the middle of the night. It had been a dream to rival all dreams and she wasn't entirely sure she'd ever be able to put it out of her mind. So long had passed since she had known the pleasures of a man and now she was craving them all over again. She wanted to feel the hardness, the roughness, the masculinity in each and every thrusting, pushing, pounding movement. It called to her body, made her soaking wet and hotter than a firefighter in a five alarm fire.

She pulled the bottle of aspirin from the cabinet, shaking out two of the small white pills into her hand. There was a small stack of Dixie cups next to the sink, the ones she kept there for rinsing her mouth out with, and she filled it with some cool tap water. That was all she had unless she wanted to go downstairs.

Which she didn't

The thought of being around either Angel or Spike was infinitely more uncomfortable than the idea of her lover finding out what she had dreamed. She knew from things Angel had said in the past that a vampire's sense of smell was heightened; keen enough, even, that they could smell the desire on a human. That was the last thing she needed right now - to get all hot and bothered around one or both of them and have them say something to her. She'd probably get all flustered and completely find herself lacking in the snarky comeback area.

She sighed, snapping off the light with her elbow, pills in one hand and water in the other and went back to her lover to offer comfort that she found herself needing more and more.

~*~*~

"I see you finally crawled out of bed." Angel arched an eyebrow as Spike shambled into the lobby of the hotel, t-shirt still tucked out of his jeans. The jeans themselves were a little long, the hem dragging along the floor around Spike's bare feet. Painted black toenails. He smirked, shaking his head.

"Sorry, Peaches. If I'd have known you were waiting up for me I'd have made a point to get out of bed a little earlier."

"Well - remember that next time." The dark haired vampire chuckled. He looked more closely at Spike, noting the dark edges around the other man's eyes. "Rough night?"

"You could say that." Spike leered. "Had this bloody brilliant dream that kept me awake for most of the night."

"Dream?" Angel asked. He tried to keep his face neutral and failed. Images of the dream he had experienced in almost living detail the night before had been haunting him all day, most especially during the brief time Willow had been downstairs with him. He didn't know what had brought her to the point that she had thrown her book down and left, but he was glad for it nonetheless. One more minute around her and he would have been hard pressed to keep himself from kissing her; from bruising her lips the way he his fantasy self had done in the dream the night before. He could only imagine that her body was as warm and tight as it had been in the dream. She hadn't been with a man in a long time - wouldn't that make it even the better? Ever so much tighter?

"Peaches?"

Angel blinked, pulling himself forcibly from the memories. If he could have blushed that would have been the moment. As it was, his dead skin stayed cool.

"You were asking me about the dream I had?"

"Right, right. Who was in it?"

Spike gave the older vampire an odd look. It wasn't like the ponce to be all nosy and voyeuristic like this. He met the other man's gaze unwaveringly, blue eyes to brown. For one long minute they just stared at each other, Spike trying to figure out what was going on and Angel trying to just keep a handle on his own emotions.

"Who. Was. In. It." Angel repeated, slowly. "Don't make me take you to the room and beat it out of you."

'Bloody hell. Might be worth holding out just for that.' The blond smirked, the expression fading at the look in Angel's eyes. He was obviously asking the question for a reason, even if it wasn't clear to anyone but the Poof himself. He sighed, frowning at the normally broody one and gave him a return glare. "Fine. It was about you and me and your annoying chit and the Red."

Angel felt floored. "When you woke up - could you smell her in the air? Both of them? And in the dream it all just felt --"

"Right? It felt like home. Like peace." Spike's blue eyes went from slitted to wide in less than two seconds. He stared at Angel. "You're not saying -- ?"

"We had the same dream." Angel confirmed, his brow creased in worried confusion.

"Wonder what this means. Or if Red and the Cheerleader dreamed it too?"

"To hell if I know, my boy."

~*~Part Twelve~*~

Their plan, as much as it as it could be called one, was to corner each of the women separately and ask, in some fashion, whether or not they had experienced any odd dreams lately. Particularly ones where they were having steamy foursome sex with two handsome vampires, one male and one female. Spike would ask Willow and Angel would ask Cordelia, for some reason it just seemed better that way. It took nearly two hours for the chance to pop up.

And, like the determined, dream ridden men they were, the two vampires leapt into action.

~*~*~

Angel watched Cordelia out of the corner of his eye as the brunette shuffled through the stack of paperwork on her desk. It wasn't like her to actually be volunteering to do work during time she normally would be spending cuddling Willow, and Angel got the feeling almost immediately that something was wrong in paradise. He took a deep, completely unnecessary, breath, and made his way over to her. "Hey, Cordy."

The former cheerleader paled at the sound of her boss's voice, her tanned skin taking on a more sickly green color. Her hands stilled in mid-shuffle and she looked up hesitantly, hoping he wouldn't see anything in her face to give away what she had was thinking of.  'I did -not- dream about Angel. I did -not- dream about Angel and Spike either. Or me, Angel, Spike and Willow. I didn't. I didn't. -I didn't!-' Her silent mantra went on and on as she waited for the dark haired vampire to say what he had to say and then just go away. Her self-control was good, but not flawless, and she didn't trust herself to keep her hands where they belonged if he kept standing there, looking all scrumptious.

"'Delia," he switched to the more familiar version of her name, a nickname that only her good friends used. "I have something to ask you and it may seem weird."

"Um. Okay?" She breathed. Time could have been stopped or moving faster than the speed of light for all that she cared at that moment, looking up into his deep brown eyes. She licked her lips unconsciously; unaware of the effect it had on him almost immediately.

Angel exhaled heavily, fighting the urge to make his dreams come true right here, on the front counter of the lobby. It was -so- hard to keep the memories of the previous night's dream from invading his mind. He could distinctly remember the way her skin had felt beneath her hands; the way her body had tasted in his mouth. He gripped the edge of the counter, hearing the wood creak and groan under the strain. "Dreams." He ground out, between clenched teeth. "Did you have any odd dreams last night?"

"Dreams?" Cordelia repeated dumbly, her face flushing despite any desires she may have had for it not to. This had to be a nightmare. Any minute she was going to wake up and Angel wouldn't be standing there, asking her about the one subject in the entire world that she had wanted to steer away from. She licked her lips, once, twice, still unaware of Angel's reaction to the small movement. "Why do you ask?"

'Okay - so was that a yes or no, Cordy?' Angel growled silently, praying for the strength to make it through his little interrogation. "Spike and I shared a very lifelike dream last night. We wanted to know if we were the only ones who had experienced it or not."

"What was the dream about?" She turned her back to him, crossing her arms and slowly counting backwards from ten, willing her body back to a state of cool unresponsiveness. Unfortunately, as easy as it sounded, she found that getting her body to actually pay attention to her was much, much, harder. 'Harder?' She squeaked mentally. 'Bad choice of wording. Bad, bad, bad!'

"It was about me and him - " Angel began, walking up behind his receptionist. He already knew the answer to his question. From the way she was avoiding answering he could tell that yes, she had dreamed the same dream. "And you and Willow -"

"When I woke up I could smell your cologne." She whispered, shutting her eyes tight against the memories. She could smell his cologne now, with him standing so close to her. It was almost enough to unhinge her completely, to make her loose all sense of higher reasoning and judgment. The smell brought back images, more of a movie, in her mind of the dream and how good it had felt.

Angel nodded, his suspicion confirmed.

Now what were they going to do about it?

~*~*~

"Red? You up here?"

Willow held her breath, willing the vampire to just go away - anywhere for all she cared as long as he didn't.

Open the door of her room and walk right in.

"There you are, pet."

"Was I lost?" She muttered, her frown deepening when he sat down next to her on the bed. She pulled the blankets up higher around herself, covering the fact that she was only wearing a t-shirt and nothing else. They sat there in silence for a few long moments, him trying to get the nerve to ask her what needed to be asked, and her continuing to just wish he'd go away. When a few more minutes passed and still Spike hadn't broached the reason he was in her room, the red head cleared her throat and asked, "Was there something you needed or did you come in here to watch me take my nap?"

The blond chuckled. There was no good way to ask the red head what Angel wanted answered anyway. Besides - who had ever said he was tactful? "Did you dream about me an' the Poof last night."

She shot up straight in the bed, her green eyes wide with horrified disbelief. "How did you know that?"

"Because I had the same dream?" He smirked. "And so did Peaches. I'm guessing your chit probably did, too."

Willow blinked, her forehead creasing in consternation. If everyone on the building had dreamed the same dream, it was quite possible that this was some kind of evil spell and not actual feelings for the two vampires. She smiled, the expression lighting up the room as she slid her legs off the edge of the bed. It no longer mattered that she was only half-dressed. All that mattered was getting this mystery solved so that she could go back to being blissfully happy with Cordelia. She wouldn't even mind telling Buffy about her and Cordelia as long as they could get rid of whatever else was casuing these feelings.

"Well? What are you waiting for? We have research to do."

Spike watched the red head go, laughing outright when she came back only a moment later, a blush on her pale skin. "Get out so I can get dressed, you vampire."

~*~Part Thirteen~*~

"Okay." Willow looked around the lobby, her gaze meeting that of each of the other three people in the room. The tension between their little group was atrocious, something so thick and heavy she could feel it on her skin. And, the problem was, it kept touching her in awkward places. Just being in the same room with the three of them was enough to make her hot and wet. And she didn't want that. Most definitely did not want that at all. Not a single bit.

At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

"It's obvious that some sort of spell has been cast on us." She said finally, forcing the tension she was feeling to the back of her mind. There it could lurk and linger with all of the dirty thoughts she had been trying to keep at bay for the past few days. "So we just need to figure out what spell it was and counteract it. ASAP, people!"

Cordelia jumped, startled at the anger in her lover's voice. She held back from saying what she truly thought, that this very well may not be a true spell at all. It could just be the gods way of saying - 'You four, yes - you. Get together and do the nasty all night.' As much as she didn't want to say it, the brunette found herself seriously doubting that things were so simple. A spell had to have been cast by someone - and who in their right mind would want to get the four of them together for any reason?

But it was Spike who finally said what Cordelia had been thinking all along.

"Don't think this is a spell, Red."

"What do you mean?" Willow fought the urge to jump at him, beat some sense into him. Didn't he see that this just had to be a spell? That was the only way for her to be able to ever forgive herself for the feelings she had had towards Spike. It was the only way for her to be able to rationalize any reason why Cordelia may have dreamed of sleeping with Spike and Angel. Without this type of plausible excuse she would be left with nothing to comfort herself with.

And she just didn't know if she could deal with that. Cordelia was her love, the love of her life. The only one she ever wanted to be with. It wasn't -right- to love more than one person, not in that way. Sure, loving multiple family members was one thing, but having multiple lovers? Wasn't that just downright scandalous?

"He means that he doesn't think the feelings that we've all been having are because of a spell." Angel said slowly, looking worriedly at the red head. Out of their entire group she seemed to be taking this the least well. In fact, she looked like she was about to run crying from the room at any moment. He didn't want to see her get hurt, but this wasn't something that could be ignored. He agreed with Spike. Maybe a spell had been used to draw them all into a dream together, but that hadn't made them start feeling this way. These feelings had grown over time.

Willow looked around the room, feeling like those in there with her had all turned into people she didn't know. "Am I the only one in here who believes this was a spell?"

"I think a spell made us have the dream." Cordelia conceded. Her eyes were locked on her hands. She couldn't look at her lover, couldn't meet her eyes. Not in regards to this subject. "But - " She blushed then, finally looking up into Willow's face. She saw there all the things she hadn't wanted to see. Pain. Hurt. Disbelief.

"Am I the only one in the room that doesn't feel like hopping into bed with everyone else?" The young witch whispered, her eyes glassy with tears. Cordelia actually -wanted- to get in bed with Angel and Spike? Since when had their love faded to this point? This might as well be nothing. And to think, she had actually been considering telling her friends about their relationship. Not now. Not ever. What was the point? Cordelia had already moved on - to Angel and Spike.

She looked around the room, her face growing hot with embarrassed tears. Tears of pain at the loss she could only assume she had just suffered welled up in her eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks at any moment. Her heart, once full of love, felt empty, abused. None of the others spoke, but she could still see it in their faces. Even Cordelia, the one who had sworn to always be true to her, was looking as though she'd just been caught in the act.

With a sob she stood, flinging herself from the couch in a movement so violent and blind that she nearly fell over. It only took a moment for her to regain her balance, though, and then she was off, tearing through the lobby and into the back halls, trying to get away from those she had felt betray her.

"Should we go after her?"

Cordelia looked at Angel, her own eyes tired and sad. "No. Just let her be for a little while. She needs time to think." She shrugged. "Maybe this is all a spell and we're wrong. Maybe - "

"Do you really think that, pet?" Spike asked, his blue eyes fixed on her.

The former cheerleader took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly. She closed her eyes, wondering how they were ever going to sort this mess out without everyone involved getting hurt. "No. I don't guess it could be that simple, could it?"

~*~Part Fourteen~*~

Willow made her way slowly through the corridors of the hotel, her mind awhirl with the bitter pangs of sadness. Her lover, soulmate even, wanted to be with Spike and Angel?

"And you don't?" She whispered, biting back the tears in her eyes with the bitterness she was feeling. The truth was that she -did- want everything that that dream had offered. She wanted to feel Spike and Angel making love to her, wanted to see them pleasuring Cordelia. But, if that was the case, then the love she had thought she had was nothing more than passing lust. It wasn't something that would stand up to the test of time, nothing to hold onto in the coming years. Maybe it was better that she had found all of this out now, before she told the Sunnydale crew about the relationship she was having with the former cheerleader. Now there was no need to tarnish herself in their eyes. No need for her to go through all of the pain the truth would have caused.

Why hurt herself over someone who she obviously wasn't -meant- to be with?

She stopped before the door of the basement, eyeing the dark expanse warily. Certainly going down there wasn't the smartest thing to do. The basement had never officially been cleared out by either Angel or any of his staff. For all she knew there could be a demon nesting in the boxes and wreckage that was left. But 'They' wouldn't think to look for her down there, at least that's what she hoped. A frown crossed her face at the thought of the danger that could lurk amongst the boxes. 'All the better. Maybe something will jump out and kill me and get this over with. I don't want to feel like this inside anymore.'

The steps creaked as she made her way down, the light spilling in from the open first floor door giving her little to see by. She made it to the bottom with no serious injuries and flipped on the light, flooding the large room with light. Boxes were piled high, filled with things from when the hotel was actually still running. Here too were the pieces of furniture that had been left behind, cleared away by some crew or staff before the building was blocked off for good. She stepped around some of the debris, cautious despite her own feelings that anything that happened to hurt her physically could only make her feel better.

"Why me?" Even spoken so quietly her voice sounded loud in the silence of the basement. Somewhere nearby a pipe dripped, the bits of liquid falling methodically down into a puddle on the floor. The red head tilted her head up, her eyes locked on the ceiling though they were focused on something, someone, much farther away than that. "Why couldn't I have found love just this once?"

The tears flowed freely then, trailing across her pale cheeks to drip in fat, wet drops off of her chin, creating spots of wetness on her shirt. She rubbed at her cheeks, trying to wipe away the offending blobs, as though wiping them away would also erase the sadness in her heart. Life didn't work like that, though. It never had and never would. Like her love life, it seemed as though life just wasn't going to work out in her favor.

It wouldn't have been half as bad if she didn't feel the same way Cordelia did. If that had been the case she would have at least been able to feel some sort of righteous anger at the brunette. She could have ranted and raved, accused the other woman of never having loved her. In a way, that would have been better. At least then she would have known who's fault it was that the relationship just didn't work out. She would have had someone to blame, in other words.

But she couldn't do that in this situation; not and still be truthful to herself. She wanted Spike and Angel just as much as Cordelia apparently did. And that was just -wrong-. Four adults in one bed together? Her parents would kill her. Buffy and Xander would never speak to her again. Sure, the same could be said of her relationship with Cordelia, but at least that was only minutely scandalous.

This however? This would be the scandal to end all other scandals. It was not only immoral, but something that her friends would disagree with. They would treat her as though she had grown an extra head. Not only because of the fact that she -wanted- to be lovers with three people; but also because two of those 'people' were vampires. As reassuring and friendly as Buffy had seen when confronting her about the supposed relationship she was having with Angel, Willow knew it would all fade in time and leave only heartache.

Amidst her tears and half-choked, whispering sobs, Willow heard an odd humming the further she ventured into the basement. She stopped, stilling her own ragged breathing for a moment so that she could hear it better. Like a soft melody in the background of a movie, the humming was nothing that she would have noticed if she hadn't come so close to the back of the room. She tilted her head to the side, her eyes roaming slowly over the boxes and parcels, trying to find the source of the noise.

"Huh?" She murmured, finding what could only be the source. A glowing box, only a few inches wide and long, sat on top of a pile of junk within another box. The box itself appeared to be normal cardboard, but whatever was in it was glowing furiously. She stepped forward, picking up the small object and weighing it in her hand. "Heavy." It was cold to the touch, so whatever was in it wasn't giving off any heat that she could tell.

Taking a deep breath, Willow pulled the top off of the box, staring down into the small container in surprise. She took in the rosy pink color of the object, the way it glowed with an unearthly translucent white light, and knew immediately what it was. They weren't supposed to exist, though. Not anymore. Hadn't she read that the Watcher's Council had been one of the major influences in getting these tiny, joyous things deleted from the face of the earth?

"A Heart Stone." She whispered, picking up the stone. It was smooth to the touch, exactly as it looked. Intricate lines of red were dispersed along the pink-colored stone, representing the blood pumping within a heart. The legend of the stone was simple. When around those that were destined to be together it would glow. She had never heard of one like this, though. This one glimmered and shone with the light of a small sun. She held it gingerly in her hand, wondering what it could mean. Were there two people in this building who were supposed to be together? Maybe Wesley and Cordelia?

Nah.

At one point she would have assumed it was her and Cordelia and that the stone was merely an echo of what they had already said to each other. That they were soulmates, something written in the annals of fate itself.

But that was no longer.

She sighed, settling onto the ground. Her eyes were locked on the stone, wishing and praying that she knew what to make of it, and thankful to have a small miracle like that in her hand during such a time of stress.

~*~Part Fifteen~*~

It was the slightly cracked door to the basement that gave Cordelia the clue as to where she could find her lover.

That - and the sound of crying.

She walked slowly down the steps, making her way through the mounds of junk that some would call antiques. She didn't care what it was all called, really, just as long as Angel one day went through it all and got most of it thrown out. Certainly they had no use for all of these old, broken dining room chairs? They didn't even have an actual dining room, for God's sake.

Willow was sitting on the floor, knees drawn up and head down, when Cordelia finally found her amidst the piles of rubble. She knelt down beside the red head, placing a gentle hand on her back. "Wills?"

"Go away." Came her sniffled response.

"Sorry. Can't do that." Cordelia sighed. She looked around for something to sit on and, finding nothing, chose the floor. "You've been down here for ages, sweetie. All this crying is going to give you a headache."

Willow shrugged, still not looking up. She couldn't stand the thought of looking into Cordelia's eyes at that moment, seeing for herself that the brunette didn't love her anymore. "Don't care about a headache."

The former cheerleader snorted. "Well -I'm- gonna care when I have to take care of you later - so could you do me a favor and just stop? Can't we talk about this?"

"What's there to talk about?" The red head lifted blurry bloodshot eyes to look into Cordelia's face. She was both surprised and shocked by what she saw there. Love, concern - the things she had thought had been thrown to the wayside with all the revelations of the dream.

"You. Me. Everything." She stopped, looking down at Willow's hand in confusion. "What's that?"

Willow's eyes traveled slowly to the Heart Stone, still held in the palm of her hand. The radiant glow hadn't dimmed or diminished in the time she had spent with it. Nor could she figure out what was making it glow so brightly. "A Heart Stone."

Cordelia frowned. "What's it for?"

The witch shrugged. "Supposedly it glows when it is around two people who belong together. It's sort of like an advanced warning system for love. I've never heard of one glowing this bright before, though. I'm thinking maybe it's for Wesley and Fred.

"Wesley and Fred?" The brunette asked, incredulous. "You're joking, right? He thinks of her like his little sister. Somehow I doubt they are soulmates." She stared down at the stone, searching her brain for anyone else in their offices who might be destined for each other. "Could be me and you, you know."

Willow snorted. "Oh, sure. That's entirely likely since we've been having feelings about two vampires behind each others' backs. Yeah - destined for love, right."

The words hit Cordelia like a slap in the face. Not merely because of their brutal honesty. There was something else there, too. Something that made much more sense.

"Wait a minute." She began slowly, reaching out to take the stone from Willow. "You said you've never seen one glow like this before - so brightly, right?"

Willow nodded hesitantly. Where was her girlfriend going with this? She watched the other woman move the stone from palm to palm, inspecting it.

"Well - what if its glowing that bright because there are more than two people in the building that are meant to be together?"

"What are you trying to say?" The red head was thoroughly confused now.

Cordelia sighed. She didn't know if Willow honestly didn't know what she was talking about or if the witch was just choosing to play dumb because of the subject matter. "Think about it, Wills. You, me, Spike and Angel all have the same dream and now you find this little stone glowing like a sun down here. You said it indicates soulmates. What if - "

"We're all soulmates?" Willow asked, her voice rising with disbelief. "C'mon, Cordy, that's just not possible?"

"Why not?"

"Because - That's not normal. You're only supposed to have -one- soulmate. Not three."

"And who gave you that narrow view of the world?" Cordelia persisted. She scooted closer to the red head, looking into the teary green eyes of her lover. "Your mom and dad? Society? Who says that you can only love one person? Does your Goddess say that love is so limited?"

That gave Willow a pause. It was true that her Goddess didn't limit love in that way. Love was a splendid thing that could be shared with as many individuals as one felt a connection to. But that went against everything she had ever seen around her. One on one - that was the way love was supposed to be according to television, books, movies. Who had ever heard of anyone having more than one soulmate? Cordelia was still looking at her, expecting an answer, so she grasped at the one straw she still had left.

"But I don't love Angel and Spike. I love you."

"You don't care about them? At all?" Cordelia asked, eyebrow raised.

"Of course I care about them!" Willow protested. Then she stopped, mouth open. She did care for both of them. Maybe it was love. Maybe it wasn't. But it was something. And a deeper something than she would normally contribute to casual friendship. Hadn't she always had a crush on Angel, even way back when he was still Buffy's Angel? And didn't being around Spike make her happy, even if they were doing nothing more than bickering like -

And old married couple.

She sighed, looking down at her hands.

"Why is this so hard for you to just admit to?" Cordelia asked quietly. "We've never been normal. Why do you want a normal life? Why not just let things fall as they may? The little stone couldn't be wrong, could it?"

Willow shook her head, biting her lower lip. Truth be told, she had never once read about a Heart Stone being wrong. And who else could it be glowing for? Certainly not Wesley and Gunn. That thought alone was enough to make her shudder. And why was she allowing herself to have these hang-ups? She was never going to be normal or have a normal life. That just wasn't possible being what she was or knowing what she knew. How could one have a normal life when they were an actual witch? Or go back to obliviousness once the supernatural was revealed?

It just wasn't possible.

"Seeing my point?" Cordelia asked quietly, watching the understanding dawn across her lover's face. "I still love you as much as I ever did. But maybe there's something to this whole loving them thing, too. C'mon back upstairs so we can all talk."

"Talk?" The red head laughed. It felt good to laugh, to feel happy, or at least lighter at heart. "You think that's what they want to do - talk?"

Cordelia smirked. "Well, we have to start somewhere."

~*~Part Sixteen~*~

Willow yawned, stretching her arms out above her head, eyes scrunched shut. All around her she could feel flesh. Cool, warm, it was all the same. She opened her eyes and found herself looking into the someone else eyes - orbs the color of the summer sky. They just stared at each other for a long moment, her chest rising and falling as she breathed. And then, he spoke.

"Mornin' pet."

"G'morning, Spike." She blushed and slunk down under the covers, realizing for the first time that she was still quite naked.

"We shag all night and you get all flustered, still." He shook his head, leaning over to capture her lips with his own. His hands moved under the covers, caressing her bare skin, rubbing along her thighs, up her hip, and over her stomach. "You're just bloody amazing."

"I'll second that."

Willow felt more than saw the other female of their little group move. She could feel the warmth of the other woman's skin slide across hers, like silk on silk. Cordelia was so much softer than Spike and Angel, warmer too. It brought back memories of the night before.

The first night the four of them had finally 'gotten together'.

It had been magnificent, glorious. The type of thing epic fantasies were made of. Well, if epic fantasies included mind-blowing four-way sex, that is.

Only two days had passed since her crying spell in the basement of the hotel. They had all sat down, like adults, and determined that they should just take things as they came but to actually -try- to make them work instead of trying to ignore their feelings. Still they had found themselves dancing around in an atmosphere of sexual tension that was so tight Willow herself had felt she'd scream at any moment. Spike had been touchy-feely, Angel had been quietly seductive, and Cordelia had been her normal horny self. It had been too much for the red head, who felt like they were doubling their efforts on her, as if to make up for the bad feelings she had experienced at the onset of it all.

And so it was really no one's surprise when, after only forty-eight little hours they had ended up, sweating and moaning, in bed together.

'Take that back.' Willow smirked silently. 'It definitely surprised poor Wes when we all got up and left him sitting there by himself.' Even now she could picture him, sitting there looking very confused, and then getting more and more embarrassed as the situation slowly dawned on him.

"What are you thinking about, Red?"

Willow shuddered as Angel's voice dove through her ear. It made her shiver with anticipation, the type of sweet anxiety that only a good lover could bring on. And Angel certainly was good. It seems a couple hundred years of experience really did do wonders in the way of skill and pleasure.

"About us." She smiled. "All of us. In this bed together."

"A little early for shagging, pet." Spike yawned, winking at her. "I need my breakfast before we start up again."

"No, no, no." She stammered, blushing. "Was just thinking how confused poor Wes must have been last night when we ran out of the lobby."

Cordelia laughed. "Yeah - I would've given anything to see his face when he finally realized why we had all ran off together. Poor stuff British guy."

"Speaking of Stuff British guys." Spike frowned. "We're going to have to go back to Sunnydale eventually, Red."

"Why?"

Willow looked from Cordelia to Angel, amused by the fact that they had spoken at the same time. "Well - I have to at least get my stuff and give Buffy, Xander, etcetera some sort of explanation."

"Are you going to tell them about us?" Angel asked. There was a smile on his lips, but his eyes were serious. Would Willow actually get rid of her hang-ups and just let her friends know that she was happily involved? Sure, this was a little more complicated, and definitely more scandalous, than just dating Cordelia. It would be a good sign whether or not the new relationship was going to work if she would just get it over with. There was not reason for her to be ashamed of caring for more than one person.

Willow shrugged. "Really not going to be any way to hide it from her. I doubt I'll be able to get Spike to keep his hands off of me during the time we're back. 'Sides, Buffy said she'd be happy if I was dating Angel - imagine how happy she'll be to find out I -am- dating him."

"And the cheerleader." Spike smirked. "And me. Don't forget about me."

"Could never forget about you, Spikey." The witch grinned, leaning over and kissing him gently on the lips. "I guess we should do it as soon as possible. Get it over with and get on with our lives. That way Buffy and Xander can start down the road to forgiving us."

"You never know." Angel chuckled, apparently finding what he was about to say very amusing. "She could be understanding."

"Uh-uh. Buffy'll flip. And Xander will go ballistic. And that's if everything goes *well*." Cordelia murmured, an evil smile on her face. "Can I be there when you tell them?"

~*~The End~*~
 

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